My daughter is approaching the two-and-a-half mark, and I’m continually amazed at her vocabulary and insight. Evidence of this appeared recently when we were doing laundry together (meaning I was doing all the work while she sat on the dryer supervising). The washer was filling with water, and my daughter turned to me with obvious excitement as she said, “Look Mama, a waterfall!” Sure enough, the water pouring into the washing machine did look a bit like a waterfall.
It happened again a few days later as we were driving through downtown. We passed by the courthouse, which is a pretty old and neat looking building. My daughter squealed from the backseat and pointed, “Mama, look. A castle!” I could see how she made the assumption. Then, as we continued driving, we both started looking for “castles” and actually found quite a few.
Now, I’ve been doing laundry for far too many years to count, and I have never once gotten excited about the simple beauty of the cascading water. And I’ve been living in this city for a quarter of a century, and although I appreciate the beauty of my surroundings, I’ve never really considered the architecture worth note – especially as it relates to dragons, princesses, and royal gatherings.
I’m so grateful to have my daughter return my attention to these kinds of things. I’ve become so jaded with the day-to-day frustrations of being a freelancer and a parent that I forget to tap into the writer inside me. I think that truly great writing comes from a two-year-old viewpoint, where everything is fresh and new and full of metaphors.
I know that seeing natural wonders in household appliances isn’t going to improve my ability to write an SEO article on roofing materials, but I do think it’s important to remember the artistic side of being a writer. Sometimes it’s good to shed that polished, professional exterior to simply enjoy words and the world that allows us to use them.
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Thanks for sharing this. It’s so true - children have an ability to really see things.
A couple of years ago I took a class on writing, and we studied how to utilize metaphors in our writing. It was really hard for me.
My two-year-old niece, however, understood metaphor perfectly and naturally. I will never forget the night my niece looked out the window of my apartment and saw a sliver moon. She literally gasped and said, “There’s a diamond in your sky!”
I think children can teach us a lot about writing!
holli jo’s last blog post..Upgrading my writing business